Brit death row gran Lindsay Sandiford, 69, ‘flies back to UK TODAY’ after 12yrs in Bali prison facing firing squad

DEATH row gran Lindsay Sandiford is reportedly flying home to Britain today, 12 years after being sentenced to death in Indonesia for smuggling £1.6 million worth of cocaine.

The 69-year-old, who spent more than a decade in Bali’s notorious Kerobokan jail, was given a UK-funded £600 seat on a flight leaving the island this afternoon.

Lindsay Sandiford, 69, is reportedly flying home to Britain todayCredit: AFP

She was sentenced to death in Bali for cocaine smugglingCredit: AFP

Sandiford being presented to the media at the Customs Office in BaliCredit: Refer to source

She is expected to touch down at London Heathrow after a 20-hour journey with a short layover.

Sandiford, a former legal secretary from Cheltenham, was sentenced to death in 2013 after she was caught arriving from Thailand with nearly five kilos of cocaine hidden in her suitcase.

She claimed a UK-based drug syndicate forced her to act as a mule by threatening her family.

A source told the Mirror: “Lindsay is extremely unwell. She is desperate to get home and to be with her family.

“More than a decade in one of the world’s worst prisons has taken its toll on her and she wants nothing more than to get back to the UK.”

She will reportedly leave Kerobokan prison this afternoon alongside fellow Briton Shahab Shahabadi, 35, who is serving a life sentence for drug offences.

The pair are expected to be handed over to UK Ambassador Dominic Jermey at Denpasar International Airport before boarding their flight, flanked by British officials.

Sandiford’s release comes after a reported bilateral deal between the UK and Indonesia, agreed last month, on humanitarian grounds.

Indonesian minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra said: “Lindsay is old and sick. In prison she had good behaviour so that was enough reason to satisfy the request from the United Kingdom government that she be returned home and complete her sentence there.”

Sources claim Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper made personal appeals to Jakarta to secure her return, with Foreign Office staff working for 18 months on the deal.

Pastor Christine Buckingham, who visited Sandiford last week, told the Mirror: “She is in extremely ill health and she’s very keen to get back and be with her family after these 13 [12] years.

“She wants to get home and enjoy some creature comforts.”

Buckingham added: “We’re deeply grateful to the Indonesian Government and of course the British Government for working this out together.

“We look forward to her getting home now. She’s very unwell.

“The most important thing is that she gets home, we need her to be checked medically and then the plan is that she says she will spend as much time as she can with her family.”

Sandiford lived in India before her arrestCredit: PA:Press Association

The main gate of Kerobokan Women’s Prison, where British death row inmate Lindsay Sandiford was being held, in BaliCredit: EPA

Sandiford previously lived in Redcar and moved to India before her arrest.

She became known inside Kerobokan, reportedly teaching fellow inmates to knit.

Indonesia has not carried out an execution since 2016.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting two British nationals detained in Indonesia and are in close contact with the Indonesian authorities to discuss their return to the UK.”

More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online

Thesun.co.uk is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.

Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thesun and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSun.

Lindsay Sandiford arriving at a court in Denpasar on January 7, 2013Credit: AFP

She is reportedly taking a UK-funded afternoon flight todayCredit: AFP